Caution
NATS choose "beautiful" people as profile examples, but these are by no means typical of the ordinary working grunt.i.e. two out of three NATS profile examples are female-married-to-another-controller-on-combined-megasalary-at-top-earning-band-unit dudes. If you have blue eyes and a degree you can get away with controlling real aircraft for as little as four or five years before progressing onto the management ladder. You might retain controller pay and conditions for the rest of your 40 year work-avoidance job-for-life.[ we have a name for them...STEALTH....get it?..never seen on Radar] The rest of us will always make way for partner coincident annual leave requests to accommodate the two-Porsches-with-baby-seat-on-third-foreign-staff-rate-luxury-holiday-during the-summer brigade. Most of the rest of us work very hard for a reasonble but not excessive salary under massive and continuous pressure from not only the job itself but from layer upon layer of oppressive management. If you are paying for one or two kids at UNI there is possible overtime at some units. Holidays are more likely to be a caravan in the UK somewhere...which I don't mind.What about the job itself????....Great...absolutely....if you can make it. Even if you can't hack it, don't worry. NATS has 6000 staff, some hidden as contractors.....and out of a claimed 2000 or so controllers almost a third don't control aeroplanes.....its all about presentation you see.P.S. don't forget to read the red writing at the bottom!!Hold the dream....Good Luck.